Written Answers

Tuesday 30 May 2000

Scottish Executive

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the statement on Caledonian MacBrayne by Sarah Boyack on 27 April 2000 is consistent with table 7.1 of its publication Investing in You which shows a decline in Caledonian MacBrayne’s support from £24.4 million in 1999-2000 to £18.5 million in the next two financial years.

Sarah Boyack: The figure of £18.5 million for 2000-01 and 2001-02 represents the planned provision as agreed in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in respect of Caledonian MacBrayne’s External Finance Limit. The equivalent CSR provision for 1999-2000 was £23.6 million. This was subsequently increased to £24.4 million by supplementary estimates, which took account of a number of adjustments throughout the year.

  The CSR provision for 2000-01 and 2001-02 drops due to a fall in planned capital investment. The expenditure implications flowing from my announcement on 27 April in relation to the future of ferry service delivery for the Highlands and Islands will be considered in the light of comments in response to the consultation paper published on that day.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £24.4 million estimated cost of the Caledonian MacBrayne subsidy identified in table 7.1 of the publication Investing in You can be reconciled with the £28.4 million estimate identified in table 7.7, both in relation to 1999-2000.

Sarah Boyack: The figure of £28.4 million shown in table 7.7 of the publication Investing in You is the voted estimated provision for Caledonian MacBrayne as set out in the Supply Estimates for 1999-2000. The voted provision comprises the requirement for capital, revenue deficit grants, new voted loans and the repayment of existing voted loans. The figure of £24.4 million shown in table 7.1 is the voted estimated provision adjusted to include any non-voted loan repayments. Non-voted loans are loans that the company negotiates privately but are included in the External Financing Limit.

Civil Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-1652 by Henry McLeish on 11 May 2000, whether it is aware of any plans to transfer any other civil service jobs to Scotland.

Mr Jack McConnell: Decisions of this nature are a matter for individual departments or agencies to consider.

Coast Protection

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the grant aided expenditure allocated in each of the last three years for the maintenance of Scotland’s coasts.

Sarah Boyack: Grant aided expenditure allocated to local authorities for coast protection for the last three years was:-

  Coastal Protection GAE – 1998-99 to 2000-01

  


Council


1998-99 £000


1999-2000 £000


2000-01 £000




Aberdeen City


9


22


20




Aberdeenshire


37


37


38




Angus


54


56


41




Argyll & Bute


74


74


70




Clackmannanshire


0


0


0




Dumfries & Galloway


0


0


0




Dundee City


0


3


3




East Ayrshire


0


0


0




East Dunbartonshire


0


0


0




East Lothian


19


11


0




East Renfrewshire


0


0


0




Edinburgh, City of


-21


-22


69




Eilean Siar


121


133


154




Falkirk


0


0


0




Fife


12


13


12




Glasgow City


0


0


0




Highland


51


52


49




Inverclyde


0


5


1




Midlothian


0


0


0




Moray


63


96


76




North Ayrshire


0


15


14




North Lanarkshire


0


0


0




Orkney


73


33


31




Perth & Kinross


0


0


0




Renfrewshire


0


0


0




Scottish Borders


3


3


3




Shetland Islands


0


0


0




South Ayrshire


7


14


17




South Lanarkshire


0


0


0




Stirling


0


0


0




West Dunbartonshire


0


0


0




West Lothian


0


0


0




Scotland Total


502


545


598




  The negative GAE figure for the City of Edinburgh in years 1998-99 and 1999-2000 was a result of income from rent, fees and charges exceeding gross total expenditure.

Coast Protection

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the actual expenditure on maintenance of Scotland’s coasts in each of the last three years.

Sarah Boyack: Expenditure by local authorities on coast protection for the last three years was:

  


Council


Provisional
Outturn
1998-99
£000


Provisional
Outturn
1999-2000
£000


Budget
Estimates
2000-01
£000




Aberdeen City 



32


0


15




Aberdeenshire 



59


63


61




Angus 


84


66


66




Argyll and Bute 



111


115


177




Clackmannanshire 



0


0


0




Dumfries and 
Galloway 


0


0


0




Dundee City 


0


0


5




East Ayrshire 



0


0


0




East Dunbartonshire 



0


0


0




East Lothian 



0


0


0




East Renfrewshire 



0


0


0




Edinburgh 


18


29


32




Eilean Siar 


151


0


166




Falkirk 


0


0


0




Fife 


18


118


20




Glasgow 


0


0


0




Highland 


32


79


82




Inverclyde 


1


13


20




Midlothian 


0


0


0




Moray 


124


28


28




North Ayrshire 



22


22


14




North Lanarkshire 



0


0


0




Orkney Islands 



50


59


52




Perth and Kinross 



0


0


0




Renfrewshire 



0


0


0




Scottish Borders 



3


5


5




Shetland Islands 



0


0


0




South Ayrshire 



27


27


56




South Lanarkshire 



0


0


0




Stirling 


0


0


0




West Dunbartonshire 



0


0


0




West Lothian 



0


0


0




Scotland Total 



732


624


799




  Note: Figures are taken from local authorities' Provisional Outturn Budget Estimate (POBE) returns to the Scottish Executive.

Coast Protection

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details, broken down by local authority area, of capital projects to improve (a) coastal defences and (b) public facilities such as piers or promenades which have been approved for funding by local or central government in each of the last three years, detailing the nature of the project, the total cost and a breakdown of the funding sources for each.

Sarah Boyack: The following capital projects proposed by local authorities have been approved for grant funding by the Scottish Executive, or its predecessor, over the last three years:

  (a) Coast protection schemes to improve defences:

  1997-98

  Highlands Council 

  1. Kyle Prospect Scheme. Shore Protection Scheme

  Total cost: £92,500. Funding: shared 60/40 central/local government

  2. Huna. John O’Groats Shore Protection Scheme

  Total cost £52,500. Funding: shared 60/40 central/local government

  1998-99

  No schemes submitted.

  1999-2000

  No schemes submitted

  (b) Schemes to improve pier facilities:

  1997-98

  Orkney Islands Council

  Shapinsay Pier Improvements.

  Total cost: £280,000. Funding: shared £200,000/£80,000 central/local government

  1998-99

  Orkney Islands Council

  North Ronaldsay Pier Improvements

  Total cost: £134,000. Funding: shared £100,000/£34,000 central/local government

  1999-2000

  Orkney Islands Council

  Egilsay Pier Improvements

  Total cost: £120,000. Funding: shared £100,000/£20,000 central/local government

  Highland Council

  Provision of Small Isles Piers and Harbours. Total cost: £5.6 million

  Funding: shared £2.9 million central government

  £1.4 million ERDF Funding

  £0.8 million local government

  £0.5 million Scottish Natural Heritage

  The Executive does not maintain records of the schemes that local government approve for their funding only.

Education

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage the development of partnerships between the home, the school and the community in order to raise educational standards in all age groups.

Peter Peacock: We are supporting a number of initiatives under the Excellence Fund to develop partnerships between home, school and community. The Supporting Parents   and   Early   Intervention initiatives are specifically dedicated to developing home-school links. The types of schemes now operating include home-link teachers, family literacy schemes and paired reading schemes based in community centres, libraries and pre-school centres. Many authorities have set up family learning teams which combine community education, adult basic education and classroom teaching expertise.

  The Education Action Plan and New Community Schools initiatives also contain elements designed to develop partnership, such as the creation of meeting/networking rooms for parents, and the use of partnership officers/guidance assistants to carry out home visits. The New Community Schools encourage wider community involvement through participation in steering groups, and the participation of parents in the development of their children’s Personal Learning Plans.

Education

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6425 by Peter Peacock on 15 May 2000, when it is proposed that the extra money for schools to assist in raising standards announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget will be available.

Peter Peacock: Following discussion with CoSLA my department has recently written to all authorities advising them of how these resources will be allocated. A copy of the letter has been placed in SPICe.

Education

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of male teachers in publicly funded (a) pre-school education, (b) primary schools and (c) special schools.

Peter Peacock: Recruitment of teachers to posts in publicly funded schools is a matter for education authorities. The Scottish Executive actively promotes teaching as a career through a range of recruitment and publicity measures. At career events and on other occasions the department takes every opportunity to encourage men to consider a career in pre-school education, primary and special schools. A recent video produced by the department to promote teaching as a career includes interviews with a male primary school teacher and a male teacher working the special needs area in a primary school.

Education

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of female teachers in promoted posts in publicly funded (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Promotion procedures for teaching staff are a matter for local authorities. In developing procedures they must take account of employment and equal opportunities legislation.

Employment

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has in place arrangements for a task force to be ready to respond immediately when factory closures such as Philips at Hamilton, Courtaulds at Wishaw or Jaeger at Kilmarnock are announced, in order to mitigate the effects of the redundancies and help the local economy.

Henry McLeish: I launched Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) in March of this year. PACE puts in place a strategic national framework which will enable an improved and consistent public sector partnership approach to companies in difficulty. I can confirm that arrangements complying with this approach have been put into effect to support those made redundant at Philips at Hamilton and that similar arrangements are being made for Courtaulds at Wishaw and Jaeger at Kilmarnock. For the record, Jaeger announced redundancies at Kilmarnock but not closure of the plant.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the monitoring routinely carried out by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to assess the levels of radioactive contamination reaching Scottish air, land and sea as a result of discharges into the environment from the nuclear plant at Sellafield.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) carries out a comprehensive programme of monitoring of environmental radioactivity in Scotland. The objectives of this programme include the determination of the levels of man-made radionuclides in the Scottish environment and the assessment of their effects on human health and the Scottish environment.

  SEPA’s programme concentrates on the monitoring of the marine and coastal environments. This is to determine the impact of liquid radioactive waste discharges from Sellafield on the Scottish environment. SEPA has recently completed a review of its monitoring programme. Following this review, monitoring to assess the impact of Sellafield discharges has been expanded beyond Dumfries and Galloway to include points along the length of the entire west coast of Scotland.

  Information regarding the monitoring and assessment of Sellafield discharges is published annually in the Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report. A copy of the current report (RIFE-4) is in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the light of the recent reports by Her Majesty’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate into the operation of the nuclear plant at Sellafield, it has made or plans to make representations to Her Majesty's Government to take any steps needed as a matter of urgency to ensure the safety of the Scottish environment.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Her Majesty’s Government on a wide range of issues including matters relating to the Scottish environment.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Her Majesty’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate meet on a regular basis to discuss the operation of nuclear plants in Scotland to ensure that any risk to the Scottish environment from the operations of the plants is minimised.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Her Majesty’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) interact on a regular basis at nuclear sites in Scotland to address areas of mutual interest including minimisation of any risk to the Scottish environment from the operations of these plants. In addition, SEPA regularly meets the NII on a routine basis to discuss both generic and specific site issues of mutual interest.

  A framework for liaison between SEPA and the Health and Safety Executive (NII’s parent body) on nuclear matters, in the form of a draft Memorandum of Understanding, exists to ensure effective co-ordination of the respective regulatory duties. When finalised, the Memorandum of Understanding will be made public by SEPA.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Scottish environment is adequately protected through the role of Her Majesty’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate in supervising the operations of the nuclear plant at Sellafield, particularly in the light of the recent report by the Inspectorate on the plant.

Sarah Boyack: The regulatory role of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) relates to safety within nuclear licensed sites. This is a reserved matter.

  Protection of the environment is the regulatory responsibility of the environment agencies who regularly meet the NII to discuss issues of common interest.

  Discharges of radioactive waste to the environment in Scotland are authorised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), as part of its regulatory role, in accordance with the provisions of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. SEPA, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, also have in place programmes to monitor the effects of discharges.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Her Majesty's Government to discuss the implications for Scotland’s environment of the operation of nuclear plants in Scotland.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Her Majesty's Government to discuss the implications for Scotland’s environment of the operations of nuclear plants in England and Wales.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-4655.

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Scottish environment is adequately protected through the role of Her Majesty’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate in supervising the operations at nuclear plants in Scotland particularly in the light of the recent report by the Inspectorate on the Sellafield plant.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-4657.

Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on implementing the recommendation contained in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency report of October 1998 Certificates of Authorisation for the disposal of Radioactive Waste from Dounreay for the development of a spent nuclear waste fuel management strategy in a Scottish context.

Sarah Boyack: The comments of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), made as part of its consideration of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA’s) application for revised waste discharge authorisations from Dounreay, were in the context of the management of spent Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) fuel. There was no explicit recommendation that a Scottish strategy on spent nuclear fuel should be developed.

  Options for management of Dounreay’s PFR fuel are the subject of a current consultation exercise being undertaken by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), UKAEA’s sponsor department.

  Spent nuclear fuel from other sites in Scotland is generally sent to Sellafield.

  The Scottish Executive is working with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the National Assembly for Wales on the preparation of a consultation paper on radioactive waste management policy in the United Kingdom. It is hoped to issue that paper soon.

Environment

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out any study into the likely costs of any road improvements required to allow the extraction of the projected timber harvest in the next 20 years, on a local authority by local authority basis and, if so, whether it will publish the results of that study.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has not undertaken any such study.

Environment

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any coastal maintenance projects currently under consideration for capital funding.

Sarah Boyack: Specific capital funding for coastal projects is only available for new capital works.

  Maintenance projects are not classed as capital works and are therefore not eligible for capital funding.

Environment

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify estimates for the cost of access built into the allocation for Scottish Natural Heritage and national parks in table 7.14 of its publication Investing in You .

Sarah Boyack: The estimates for the cost of access built into the allocation for Scottish Natural Heritage in table 7.14 of Investing in You are £4 million in 1999-2000, £5 million in 2000-01 and £8.5 million in 2001-02.

European Convention on Human Rights

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the European Convention on Human Rights has any effect on Scottish planning law and organisation and, if so, what areas are affected and what proposals will be brought forward to address this situation.

Sarah Boyack: We are systematically reviewing all of our activities to identify issues where there is a risk of ECHR challenge. If we believe it is necessary to amend existing legislation in order to comply with the convention, then we will bring forward proposals for that purpose at the appropriate time.

European Funding

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown, by local authority area, of the number and value of applications for Regional Selective Assistance which are pending the outcome of the re-drawing of the area assistance map by the European Union.

Henry McLeish: A large number of RSA applications were received prior to the expiry of the Assisted Areas map in December 1999. We have had a further 28 Regional Selective Assistance applications in the period 1 January to 16 May 2000. Only these 28 applications are pending the outcome of the Assisted areas map and are detailed in the table below:

  


Region


Number of RSA 
applications


Value of RSA applications




East Ayrshire


 5


 104,500




East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire


 5


 1,305,000




Glasgow


 7


 2,093,600




Lanarkshire (North and South)


 4


 3,050,000




North Ayrshire


 3


 1,175,000




All other assisted areas


 4


 1,580,600




  Note: Local authority areas have been aggregated in the above table in order to protect the commercial confidentiality of RSA projects.

Freight

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money remains available under the Rail Freight Facilities Grant Scheme for 2000 and 2001.

Sarah Boyack: Including the extra £1 million in 2000-01 which I announced on 29 May, £7 million of the provision available for Freight Facilities Grants in 2000-01 and 2001-02 remains unallocated.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the review of infertility services in Scotland will be published.

Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to S1W-2318.

Health

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs have been incurred on an annual basis since 1995, broken down by health board area, on (a) vehicle fuel and (b) transport.

Susan Deacon: Information on vehicle fuel and transport costs incurred by health boards and NHS Trusts is not collected centrally.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will guarantee that any properties to be demolished after the Glasgow housing stock transfer will be demolished because they are beyond repair rather than because of the value of the land on which they are built.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The document published on 10 April by the Glasgow Steering Group provides the framework for tenants to take the lead in developing a transfer proposal which delivers housing investment and sustainable communities on an integrated basis. The details of the investment programme, including demolition proposals, of the Glasgow Housing Association will be based on extensive consultations between tenant-led landlords, tenants and others at both city-wide and local levels.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the number and costs of any consultancies, studies or reports into the reopening of the Stirling/Alloa/Dunfermline railway line on an annual basis since 1997.

Sarah Boyack: I am aware of the following seven relevant pieces of work:

  


Originator of Report


Report


Date




Railtrack


Value Management Workshop


Commenced January 2000
Completed February 2000




Railtrack


Freight Facilities Prospects 
Study 


September 1999




Railtrack


Geology/Mining Report


August 1999




Railtrack


Structures Report


Mid-1999




Railtrack


Public Transport Study 


April 1999




Railtrack


Main Study


March 1999




Spaven McRossan
(for Railtrack and others)


Developing Railfreight in Clackmannanshire


February 1999

Rail Network

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the reply to question S1W-6089 by Sarah Boyack on 20 April 2000, when it now expects to receive from Strathclyde Passenger Transport the full business case for a Larkhall rail link.

Sarah Boyack: Latest information from SPT indicates that we may now receive the full business case in the summer of 2000.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail its role in monitoring and promoting rail projects supported in whole or in part from public resources such as the Public Transport Fund or the Railway Passenger Partnership.

Sarah Boyack: It is for each local authority and the SPTA to put forward bids to the Public Transport Fund and so far nine rail-related projects are receiving support. At the start of each project the local authority must prepare an Action Plan setting out how it proposes to implement the project for which it is responsible and provide regular updates throughout the funding period to demonstrate how the plans are progressing.

  The shadow Strategic Rail Authority administers the Rail Passenger Partnership scheme, designed to encourage improvements in the rail network. The Scottish Executive is consulted on applications from Scotland.

Recycling

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures or regulations it proposes to introduce to encourage fast food outlets to recycle materials.

Sarah Boyack: The EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive requires member states to recover a minimum of 50% of packaging waste, of which a minimum of 25% must be recycled, by 2001. The United Kingdom has implemented the directive through two sets of regulations: the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 and the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 1998.

  The 1997 Regulations set mandatory levels for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. They apply to companies with a turnover exceeding £2 million and who own and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging per annum. Small businesses such as the franchisees of national or international branding or marketing organisations, may not be affected by the regulations by virtue of the turnover and tonnage thresholds. This is in line with our policy to minimise the regulatory burden on businesses, with a focus on small businesses, which is pursued through initiatives such as the Improving Regulation in Scotland (IRIS) Unit.

  The 1998 regulations, which are enforced by local authority trading standards offices, require that packaging is minimised and is recoverable, for example through recycling. In common with other packaging, that used in fast food outlets must comply with the regulations. The obligation to ensure that this is the case rests with the packer/filler or the importer of the packed or filled packaging, or the brand owner if the packaged product is sold under his or her name.

  There are no plans to address the recycling of packaging materials used by fast food outlets specifically. The directive’s targets are due to be reviewed with effect from July 2001.

Road Safety

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the last safety audit was carried out on the A71 and which parts of the route were covered by this audit.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive reviews annually accidents on trunk roads and investigates clusters of accidents at particular locations and routes with high accident rates. Local authorities are responsible for road safety on local roads in their areas. The A71 is classified as a local road and decisions relating to safety audits are matters for the local authorities through whose areas the road passes.

Road Safety

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents took place on the A71 in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area and specifying in each case the number of fatalities or serious injuries.

Sarah Boyack: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents.

  The table below gives the numbers of road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring on the A71, and the associated fatalities and serious casualties. The information is broken down by local authority area.

  It should be noted that the statistics given below are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authorities would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  Injury road accidents occurring on the A71, and the associated numbers of fatalities and seriously-injured casualties, as reported in the "STATS 19" statistical returns.

  


Local Authority


Year


Injury road accidents


Fatalities


Seriously-injured 
casualties




Edinburgh


1994


66


0


24



 

1995


57


0


9



 

1996


63


0


9



 

1997


77


1


7



 

1998


69


1


7




West Lothian


1994


23


1


6



 

1995


36


2


12



 

1996


26


3


5



 

1997


24


0


10



 

1998


32


6


11




North Lanarkshire


1994


20


3


8



 

1995


20


1


12



 

1996


16


0


4



 

1997


8


0


4



 

1998


27


1


11




South Lanarkshire


1994


33


3


18



 

1995


27


0


6



 

1996


25


3


13



 

1997


23


2


4



 

1998


22


3


4




East Ayrshire


1994


26


1


12



 

1995


37


1


15



 

1996


22


1


3



 

1997


36


1


12



 

1998


27


1


9




North Ayrshire


1994


2


0


1



 

1995


5


1


2



 

1996


5


0


1



 

1997


8


0


4



 

1998


9


0


6

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Borders Council has made recommendations to its Road Network Management and Maintenance Division regarding the A7 Route Action Plan and to detail the criteria it will use to select specific road projects for inclusion in future programmes.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive Road Network Management and Maintenance Division expect to receive the Firm Strategy Report for the A6091/A7 Galashiels to Hawick Route Action Plan (RAP) from Scottish Borders Council by the middle of June.

  Specific road projects will be selected for inclusion in future programmes based on comparing the cost of constructing the scheme with the cost benefit the scheme would provide. Any scheme included in the RAP future programme will have to compete with other schemes for trunk road funding.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the financial allocation for electronic tolling and other innovations associated with the proposed Integrated Transport Bill in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Sarah Boyack: DETR is currently tendering for a contract for the UK trials of electronic tolling technology – the DIRECTS (Demonstration of Interoperable Road User End to End Charging and Telematics Systems) project. Consequently all financial information regarding this project is currently commercially confidential. In accordance with EU Procurement regulations the results of the tender competition will be published when it is completed. This is expected to be in mid-September. There are no financial allocations for other innovations.

Sexual Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to press release SE0963/2000, what is being done to encourage young men to attend sexual health clinics or general practitioners to test for infection.

Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to questions S1W-5084 and S1W-5086 by Mrs Ullrich which refer to the efforts being made in a number of areas to raise awareness and knowledge of sexual health issues and encourage more people, including young men, to seek advice and help. It should be noted in relation to the statistics set out in the press release SE0963/2000, that increased attendance at GUM clinics does not necessarily imply an increase in numbers of infections. The indication that twice as many females as males, in the 15-19 year old age band, attended these clinics reflects the fact that attendances at GUM clinics and diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases peak in females at a younger age than in males. Male attendance outnumbers female in the age groups 20-24 years and 25-34 years.

Sexual Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to press release SE0963/2000, what is being done to address the increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

Susan Deacon: I refer to my answer to questions S1W-5084 and S1W-5086 by Mrs Ullrich which describe the work being done by the Executive to develop a comprehensive sexual health strategy for Scotland. A review of genito-urinary medicine services will form part of that work.

Teachers

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent teachers were employed in publicly funded (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) pre-school education in 1999.

Peter Peacock: Figures on how many full-time equivalent teachers were employed in publicly funded (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) pre-school education in 1999 are not yet available. The most recent information is for 1998 and is available from SPICe.

Teachers

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current pupil/teacher ratio is in publicly funded (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) pre-school education.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The latest information available from the 1998 School Census provides the following pupil:teacher ratios in publicly funded schools:

  At September 1998:

  (a) 19.4 in Primary Schools,

  (b) 13.0 in Secondary Schools,

  (c) 4.4 in Special Schools,

  At February 1999:

  (d) 29.2 in Pre-School Education Centres.

Teachers

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to attract new graduates into the teaching profession.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive undertakes a wide range of recruitment publicity activities to attract new graduates into the profession.

  Work currently undertaken by the department to promote teaching as a career includes production of publicity material, attendance at career events and media advertising. There was an encouraging response to the most recent press and radio advertising campaign which took place in the latter part of last year. As a direct result of the campaign the department received over 2,800 enquiries about entering teacher training.

  The department is now sponsoring jointly with the GTC a recruitment campaign specifically targeted at attracting graduates who may be eligible for entry to PGCE mathematics courses.

  The McCrone Committee of Inquiry into professional conditions of service for teachers is looking at the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland. Our current activities to attract people into teacher training will be reviewed in light of the committee's report.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what each local authority charges for cards for concessionary fare schemes for pensioners.

Sarah Boyack: The details, from the latest information we have available, are as follows:

  


Local Authority


Concession Card 
Charge




Aberdeen City Council


£5 per annum




Aberdeenshire Council 
Moray Council
(Joint Scheme)


£5 per annum




Angus Council


£2.50 for 5 year card




City of Edinburgh Council
East Lothian Council
Midlothian Council
(Joint Scheme)


Free of charge (Replacement Card 
£2)
£3 for 3 year card
Free of charge (Replacement Card 
£1)




Clackmannanshire Council 
Falkirk Council
Stirling Council
(Joint Scheme)


Free of charge




Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar


£4 per annum




Dumfries and Galloway Council



Annual Travel Card - £10 (free 
travel)
or
5 Year Travel Card - £2 (10p 
flat fare)




Dundee City Council


£2.50 per annum




Fife Council


Free of charge - 5 year travel 
card




Highland Council


£3 for 5 year card




Orkney Islands Council


Free of charge




Perth and Kinross Council


£2.50 for 5 year card




Scottish Borders Council


£3 per annum




Shetland Islands Council


Free of charge




SPTA *


Free of charge




West Lothian Council


Free of charge




  * The scheme operated by the SPTA covers the following local authority areas:-

  


Argyll and Bute


North Ayrshire




East Ayrshire


North Lanarkshire




East Dunbartonshire


Renfrewshire




East Renfrewshire


South Ayrshire




City of Glasgow


South Lanarkshire




Inverclyde


West Dunbartonshire

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the transport research budget has been on an annual basis over the last five years.

Sarah Boyack: The information requested is given in the table below:

  


Financial Year


Transport Research 
Budget




2000-01


£1,400,000




1999-2000


£1,220,000




1998-99


£1,374,000




1997-98


£1,190,000




1996-97


£1,130,000




  Source: Scottish Executive Development Department.

Waste Management

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what practical and financial assistance it will give to Scottish Borders Council to address the consequences of Scottish Ministers’ dismissal of the council’s appeal against a waste management condition at the Easter Langlee landfill site near Galashiels demanded by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency under section 43 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Sarah Boyack: Provisions for the collection and disposal of waste by local authorities are set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

  Local authorities have a duty under the Act to dispose of waste which they collect. Local authorities receive a single allocation for all their non-housing capital expenditure needs and this includes waste management expenditure.

  The Scottish Executive is considering the future resource needs for local authority services, including waste management, as part of the current spending review.

Whisky Industry

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government or the European Commission regarding the impact on the Scotch whisky industry of the proposed EU Water Framework Directive.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has been fully involved in the development of the UK’s negotiating position on the proposed directive. In this process, the Executive has taken full account of concerns expressed by the Scotch whisky distilling industry about the directive. The Scottish Executive will consult extensively on its proposals for implementing the directive in due course.